The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is sounding the alarm today after its staff in Niger and Libya documented over the past weekend shocking testimonies of trafficking victims from several African nations, including Nigeria, Ghana and the Gambiaread more

BP today announced plans to invest in excess of R5 billion in South Africaand Mozambique over the next five years in new and on-going infrastructure upgrade projects to improve business efficiency and assist Government’s objectives to enhance energy security and enable the transition to cleaner fuels.read more

TRIPOLI, Libya, March 8, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ – An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission led by Mr. Ralph Chami visited Tripoli during February 20–March 7, 2013, to conduct discussions with the Libyan authorities in the context of the annual Article IV consultations.1 Discussions focused on measures to improve the business environment to foster inclusive growth based on diversification of the economy underpinned by private sector–led growth, develop the financial sector, and control government spending including through subsidy reform. The mission met with Prime Minister Ali Zeidan, Finance Minister Haithem Jalgham, Central Bank Governor Saddek Elkabeer, General National Congress Chairman Mohammed Magariaf, and other government and central bank officials, as well as members of the General National Congress and representatives of civil society.read more

It is rather interesting that Tekeda Alemu would today feign concern and call on Eritrea to show a “pacific disposition” towards Djibouti, Somalia and Ethiopia[i]. As this author recalls, it was Tekeda Alemu that asked the US to break the otherwise amicable and neighborly Djibouti-Eritrea relations. How can Eritrea have a “pacific disposition” to Ethiopia when for over a decade Ethiopia has been occupying its sovereign territories in violation of the Eritrea Ethiopia Boundary Commission’s (EEBC) final and binding delimitation and demarcation decisions, international law, the United Nations and African Union Charters? As for Somalia, no one tried harder to “isolate” Eritrea from playing any meaningful role in Somalia than did the regime in Ethiopia and its handlers. Now that they have managed to create an intractable desperate situation in a dismembered and weak Somalia, don’t expect Eritrea to burn in that self created quagmire. Allow me to remind the good Ambassador of a few facts about Djibouti-Eritrea relations.read more

The Benghazi incident that took the lives of four Americans has resulted in the resignation of four Department of State (DoS) officials and has cost Susan E. Rice, the current US Ambassador to the United Nations, her chance to head the DoS. Her potential nomination set off a barrage of commentary as those opposed to her nomination were countered by those who supported her. Several reports were written about the “radio-active” candidate and there were some who actually questioned her credentials and there were others who claimed that her “entire career has been based less on solid accomplishment than on her networking skills.”read more